The Return of the Lich
by impossibleThing13
Summary: Finn has been kidnapped by the Lich and a shadow Finn walks in his place. will his friends find in him before its too late? or will the lich take over once in for all? will jake achieve his dream of becoming president? read and review!
1. Chapter 1

"Jake? Have you seen my toothpaste?"

Jake looked up from stringing his viola and gave the human a mischievous look.

"The _Bubblegum_ flavored toothpaste? That flame princess should NEVER find out about? That toothpaste?" he said.

Finn gave Jake a death stare.

"Yes"

"In the cupboard above the sink. BM-O put it away."

"Thanks!" Finn dashed upstairs and finished getting ready for bed. Meanwhile, Jake was singing to himself downstairs.

"Fiiiiiinnnnnn, the mini human hero Maaaaaaaannnnn, uses PB's special toothpaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaste, cuz he can't handle fire power's taaaaaaaaaaaste. And his Girlfriend's gonna burn him aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive, if she finds out he's using candy hyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-giene!" he sang to no one in particular.

"Jake, its bedtime now!" said BM-O.

"Ok. Night BM-O"

The tree house went dark as all the lights went out.

XxX Later that night XxX

A shadow slid over the grasslands, descending upon the tree fort. It oozed through the doorway and into the main room. It slunked upstairs and crept over to Finn's bed. Then the shadow began to bubble. It began to have shape. Slowly, a figure of solid shadow loomed over the 14 year old, who was still fast asleep. Quicker than lightning, the shadow clamped a hand on Finn's mouth and hoisted him to his feet. Finn's eyes opened in shock and he tried to call out to Jake, but it came out muffled. The shadow enveloped Finn inside itself, and crept back outside. Then it grew two large bat-like wings and flew over to dark mountain, and it landed at the mouth of a cave. A voice rang out from the dark depths.

"bring him inside." The shadow obeyed. It flew deep inside, into the very heart of the mountain. It landed in a cavern lit by candle light. Inside the room, a large brown bear, a snail with green eyes, and a glass cage lay waiting. The shadow landed next to the snail, and slowly unraveled itself, causing Finn to fall to the floor. The shadow kept one hand clamped firmly on his mouth as he pulled the boy up. Finn's eyes got wide at the change of scenery, and even wider at the sight of the bear. The snail inched forward.

"Welcome, Finn the human." He said in a deep voice.

Finn shook his head free of the shadow's hand.

"Who are you? And why'd you lumpin' kidnap me?" he asked.

The snail replied, "I am the lich, and I need a hostage for when I take over."

Finn's mouth fell open.

"But you…you died…"

"Incorrect. Shadow, put the boy in the cell." The shadow nodded and tossed Finn into the glass cube. Finn got and ran to the door, but the shadow had already sealed it.

"I'm pretty sure Jake will notice it I'm not there when he wakes up!" Finn cried out.

The lich-snail smiled.

"Oh, I thought of that. Shadow!" Finn watched in horror as the black figure morphed into a full color version of himself. Then the shadow ran back through the tunnel to the cave entrance.

"Wh-where's he going?" Finn asked, suddenly nervous.

"To replace you." The lich-snail replied with a snarl.


	2. Chapter 2

XxX the next morning XxX

"Jake! It's time to wake up." BM-O tried as hard as he could to shake the dog awake, but that's very hard when you have little arms. BM-O sighed. Jake rolled over and continued to snore. A crafty expression came over BM-O's face, and he hopped up and sat on Jake. Then he pulled open his front, and pulled out a red wire and a blue wire. BM-O smiled evilly and connected the two. Suddenly white hot volts of electricity were running wild through him and Jake. The dog yowled and jumped out of bed. BM-o disconnected the wires. Jake spun on the little robot and glared.

"I'm up already! No need to SHOCK me!" BM-O smiled.

Jake walked over to Finn's bed, where he lay staring at the ceiling.

"Buddy, you okay?" Jake asked. Finn opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out. He mimed groaning and rolled over, grabbing a notebook and pen off his night stand, and wrote out a message for Jake.

Must have gotten lar-en-gi-tus or whatever from screaming yesterday…

"You were yelling at that ogre pretty loudly." Jake agreed. "Dude, you can't spell."

Finn, or as we know him, ShadowFinn, shrugged.

XxX Later that day, in the Candy Kingdom XxX

Princess Bubblegum was watering the sugar garden when Jake and ShadowFinn walked up. She smiled at the sight of her heroes.

"Ah, you got my message! Hello boys!" she greeted them.

"Hey PB!" replied Jake. ShadowFinn bowed and smiled, but it was cold on his face. Bubblegum studied him.

"Finn, are you okay?" she asked.

"he can't talk today because he went banshee on some ogre yesterday. It's really quiet, actually." Jake informed her. ShadowFinn nodded.

"OoooKaaayyy." Said Bubblegum, "Anyway, I have quest for you guys. There's a giant Hersey's bar on the top of Mount Glob, enough to feed the Candy Kingdom for the SugarsDay Bash. I need you two to fetch it for me. None of the candy people can reach it and I'm swamped with royal junk. And Finn?" she turned to him.

ShadowFinn Stared blankly at her.

"Flame princess can't go anywhere near the chocolate or she'll melt it, so no romancy stuff, okay?" she said. ShadowFinn did his best to look disappointed, and nodded.

"Good," said Princess Bubblegum, "Off you go"

And off they went.


	3. Chapter 3

XxX In the Lich-snail's Cave XxX

Finn was knocking his head on the glass over and over again, partly to be annoying and partly because he was so utterly depressed. He tried everything to break the glass, but it didn't even have a scratch on it. It simply refused to break.

"Will you stop making that annoying racket? Glob, you remind me of an orange I used to know." Growled the Lich-snail. Finn looked up.

"Why are you keeping my alive? If you're gonna kill me, can we get it over with? I hate being helpless!" said Finn. The lich-snail shook his head.

"No, human, you will best serve me alive. When I regain my full form, I will slaughter this land. If the citizens of Ooo try to stop me, then I will gladly destroy you in front of them." He snarled. Finn sank to his knees in defeat.

"So I'm a hostage. The hostage of a homicidal snail who's actually this huge evil undead possessing monster?" he asked, exasperated. The lich-snail nodded.

Finn looked at him with a new curiosity. "Why are you telling me your plan?"

The lich snail replied, "Because I'm confident you'll never break maxi-glass."

Finn sighed, defeated, and fell asleep.

XxX back to ShadowFinn and Jake, at Marceline's House XxX

"Jake, I'm not gonna fly the two of you all the way to mount glob just because you're lazy! I'd rather suck all the red out of your face and make you a yellow dog!" screamed a recently aggravated vampire. ShadowFinn face palmed himself, embarrassed. Jake looked scared out of his wits.

"Marceline, I didn't mean it like that! Finn's got a sore throat and I'm TIRED!" Jake complained. Marceline hissed and turned to ShadowFinn.

"Can you give me a moment with Jake please?" ShadowFinn hesitated, then nodded. Marceline pulled Jake off to the side, out of hearing range. She glared at him intensely

"Jake, what are you trying to pull with me? I know that's not really Finn!" she hissed. Jake looked dumbfounded.

"What do you mean, that's not Finn? Of course it is. He just has a sore throat!" Jake protested. Marceline leaned in close, her face very serious.

"Then why isn't he coughing?" she huffed. Jake stared at the vampire, fear creeping up his doggy spine.

"He…he…How did you know?" he asked. Marceline shrugged.

"He reeked of the Nightosphere. My guess is he's a shadow posing as Finn." She said with warning.

"My question is: where's _our_ Finn?" Jake said. He looked stricken. "If it's those stupid gnomes again…" he muttered. Suddenly he turned to Marceline with concern. "What are we gonna do about him?" he whispered, gesturing to ShadowFinn. Marceline studied the Shadow boy as he adjusted his backpack.

"Let's pretend we don't know, and when he's not expecting it, I'll grab him and we'll interrogate him at the candy palace," suggested the teen vampire.

"Why can't I just grab him now?" Jake asked.

"Because you can't hold a shadow. You're a living thing. He'd slip right through you. I'm dead. Only my grip will hold him." She replied. Jake nodded in agreement.

"Come on let's go get the Hersey Bar or whatever." He said.

The trio ventured all the way to edges of Ooo, battling monsters and pulling Marceline away from the cherry red tele-tubbie they found wandering around the grasslands. Eventually they snagged the 15' by 40' Hersey's bar, and Jake and Marceline co carried it back to the candy kingdom, ShadowFinn riding on Jake's back. Jake couldn't help but shudder at the shadow's cold touch.

They were greeted by Princess Bubblegum. She flew in on her swan to congratulate them.

"Thank you boys so much for doing this! And you too, Marceline." She said. Marceline smirked. Then, Jake and ShadowFinn proceeded to take the dripping Hersey's bar inside the castle. Bubblegum made to follow them, but Marceline pulled her off to the side.

"Bonnie, I need to talk to you!" said Marceline urgently. Bubblegum was startled.

"What about?" she asked.

Marceline leaned in. "That's not really Finn, it's a shadow from the Nightosphere! The real Finn is missing!"


	4. Chapter 4

"What happened to OUR Finn?"

XxX the cave with the lich snail thing and yeeaahh … XxX

"Okay!" Finn reassured himself, " You've been in tough spots before. Jake will find you ….eventually. ShadowFinn isn't a hero, he's a monster! jake will see the him for the imposter he is!"

"Not with all the knowledge of the Enchirideon in his shadow brain." The Lich-snail interjected. Finn turned to him.

"So that's why the bear's here! That's totally whack, man!" he exclaimed. The lich just watched him with those haunting eyes. Finn's knees buckled under the weight of his stare.

"Stop it man, you're freaking me out. How do you expect to conquer the land of Ooo as a snail, anyway?" Finn asked.

"I will not remain a snail. The bear is seeing to that as we speak." He replied. Finn suddenly noticed the pile of chemicals and toxic waste and recalled the well of power the lich tried to use before.

"Oh, Glob." He said. Then, an idea hit. "I'll contact Jake through the spirit world!" he thought the human sat down, closed his eyes, and began to reach.

XxX the candy kingdom XxX

Jake nodded at Marceline, who hesitantly nodded back. He turned to ShadowFinn.

"Hey man I was wondering, WHERE THE LUMP IS MY BRO FINN!" immeadiatly Marceline flew over and grasped the shadow boy in an armlock. ShadowFinn melted into blackness, but he could not be free of the vampire's firm grip. She dragged him over to the wall and pinned him there.

"Answer the question, loser!" she hissed. Princess Bubblegum and Jake edged closer.

The shadow laughed, it voice like rusted metal hissing. He cackled and grinned at the vampire queen.

"_You have no power over me, she-demon! The boy's fate is sealed_!" he rattled. Jake turned beet red.

"I"LL BLOOP YOUR FACE OFF SO HELP ME-" he screamed, but Marcie cut him off.

"Jake! I got this!" She turned back to the shadow. "My dad runs the Nightosphere, shade, and he LOVES his little girl. if I ask a favor, he doesn't hesitate, got it? Where's Finn?" she hissed. The shadow hesitated.

"I'll make you a deal." He growled. "I'll tell where the kid is if you hide me in the nightsphere from his captor." "Deal" said PB without hesitation.

"Okay, he's in the cave over on the edge of the grasslands. Princess, you've expirienced his captor before. I'd be careful, he really wanted the kid in particular, and his plan for the guy isn't good. Now hide me in the Nightosphere!"

XxX at the mouth of the cave XxX

"I still wanna know what we're up against before we jump into this." Marceline said. "I mean, the shadow wasn't all that afraid of me but he was terrified of this guy."

"he said I've 'expirienced this villain before. Not 'met' but 'expirienced'." Said Bubblegum. "that almost sounds like possession, but- oh, no!" she gasped.

"what-" jake started but was interrupted by and impending fire ball. "DUCK!"

Jake tackled Bubblegum and Marceline, pushing them out of the way just as the fire ball struck. A beautiful and familiar face stood up from the impact spot and turned to the trio.

"WHERE THE NIGHTOSPHERE IS MY BOYFRIEND, JAKE?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Flame Princess!" exclaimed Jake.

"You heard me!" she said, "And who is THAT?" she cried, pointing at Marceline . Bubblegum stepped forward.

"That's Marceline the vampire queen. Finn is…Missing."

"Will somebody catch me up!?" exclaimed a blazing Flame Princess. Princess bubblegum gave a heavy sigh. Marceline suddenly straighten.

"You know who took him, don't you?" she asked softly, fearing the worst. PB nodded, looking older than she was. Jake studied the two.

"Okay so who is it? I wanna beat em' up." Bubblegum sighed again.

"The shade said I was possessed by this person." Flame Princess turned dark red and her glow flicked. She knew all too well what had possesd PB. The story had sprend all over Ooo.

Jake knew too.

"Finn was kidnapped by the LICH?"

"Oh. We're all screwed." Marceline muttered.

XxX somewhere in the spirit world XxX

"GUNTER! Don't engage with the weird jelly bean spirits. You know they don't like it!"

Finn knew that voice all too well, and this was one of the rare time he was happy to hear it. he had succeeded in transporting himself to the astral plane, and somehow he ended up in the ice kingdom.

"ICE KING!" he yelled, hoping to catch the wizard's attention. The old man whirled around in surprise.

"Finn! What the junk? I thought we smashed the lamb?"

"Ice king, I've-been-kiddnapped-by-the-Lich-who-is-actually-a-snail-and-I-need-to-get-out-cuz-he's-ploting-something-bad-and-i-transported-myself-to-the-spirit-plane-by-thought-cuz-I-need-help-NOW!"the boy rattled off. The ice king looked at him for a long moment. Then he grinned.

"Take hold of my beard, human!"

"what." Finn looked at the ice king in horror.

"DO IT! I've got a plan."

Finn hesitated. "o..okay."

He reached out a ghostly hand to take hold of the ice king's white beard, when his hand fizzled and flicked out. Finn disappeared into thin air.

"Finn?" the ice king looked around, but the hero was gone.

XxX the glass cage XxX

Finn woke with a start. The snail was directly outside his glass box prison, watching him with hate. Finn backed up on his hands and knees to the far wall, startled.

"No calling for help, human. I'd prefer you alive tomorrow, but I will not hesitate to kill you." The snail growled.

Finn noticed that the pool was almost complete. He gulped.

"You… you plan to restore yourself TOMORROW?" he gasped.

Time was almost out.


	6. Chapter 6

"You… you plan to restore yourself TOMORROW?" he gasped.

The snail distorted his face into what could pass for a grin( although he looked rather constipated).

"yes, hero, tomorrow I will be REBORN." Finn watched the Lich-snail slither away, then he pounded on the glass with all his might.

XxX in the Cave Tunnel outside the cavern XxX

"Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"if you keep asking so loudly they'll probably FIND US FIRST!"

"I hate burning low. I feel weak."

"I can smell him!"

"Where is he, Jake?"

"To the left. Oh glob, there's a whole bunch of toxic stuff too, PB."

"oh no, the power well!"

The four friends crept steadily onward, trying to be as quiet and as silent as possible. They came around to a ridge overlooking the cavern. Jake noticed that while they we're hidden in the shadows, Flame Princess's glow would be a dead giveaway if anyone glanced their way. He studied the room. It was rather large, with an eerie green pool in the center. The bear ("I KNEW IT!" he thought) was finishing emptying chemicals into the well. A small snail watched the operation from nearby. Just then, Jake became aware of a banging sound. He scanned the room, and his eyes landed on the glass cube his brother was desperately pounding from the inside.

"Over there!" Jake hissed, pointing. The girls followed his gaze.

"How are we gonna get him out of there?" Asked Marceline. Bubblegum studied the prison.

"it looks like some kind of morphic maxiglass," she rattled, "the glass is virtually impenetrable unless you can open the concealed door, which is very hard to do."

"The shade probably knew. Shadow doors are super hard." Marceline muttered.

"I could melt it" piped up flame princess. She was trying really hard to help Finn and not rage crazy the whole thing.

"Or I could fist pound the whole thing. And the bear.." growled Jake. PB shook her head.

"You couldn't break the glass, and heating it up would endanger Finn." She said. She turned to Jake. "We need the ice king. His crystal-structure based powers could shatter a hole in the glass. And he might come in handy against the Lich."

"Aw, a Princess wants my help. I'm flattered. You Shouldn't have!" said a familiar voice from behind them.


	7. Chapter 7

"ICE KING!" PB whirled around and found herself face to face with the sociopath himself.

"Yes?" he asked. Bubblegum huffed, and Jake pointed at Finn's prison.

"Can you help us free Finn?" Bubblegum asked.

"Sooner rather than later!" exclaimed Flame Princess. He looked disappointed, but ice king obliged. He stepped forward and raised an old blue hand and sent a bolt of ice at the glass cube. It hit the walls so hard they shattered on impact. The scream of breaking glass echoed through the cave, and silenced followed it. Finn looked up in surprise at the glass shards at his feet, and his gaze traced the cave until he found his friends. Then he turned to a very angry snail.

"Lich! I'mma BEAT YOU UP!" the boy yelled. And he ran at the snail like a maniac. Unfortunately the bear dove in his way and tackled him.

That was when chaos decided to come out and have a little fun.

Flame princess and jake swooped down to help Finn. Bubblegum and Marceline went after the lich Snail, and ice king just left. The snail saw that his plan was failing- Jake had the bear in a headlock and Flame princess was trying to attend Finn as he spanked it. So that cunning Lich did what Liches do best-he took a bath. As the snail crashed into the well of power, the cavern trembled. Marceline had to dive in and push Bubblegum out of the way of falling rocks. Jake stretched over Finn and Flame Princess to protect their heads. They watched in horror as a green mist rose out of the well, slowly swirling and shifting, defining its shape. And just like that, a fully restored Lich stood before them, grinning with malice. His eyes found Finn's and his gaze caused the boy to tremble.

"I'm not done with you, boy!" he growled.

The Lich shot a blast of power from his hand and knocked Jake out of the way. He then reached out a decayed hand to grab Finn. He scooped up the blond boy like he was a twig, and started to blast his way out of the cave.

"Oh, no you don't!" Flame Princess cried. She blazed, glowing as bright as the sun, and screamed a rage scream, and lunged at the Lich. With one fireball she knocked Finn out of his hand, and with a another she set him Aflame. Finn fell to the ground next to PB and Marceline, both of whom embraced him, the three turned just in time to see Flame Princess blow out the top of the Mountain in a fit of fiery wrath. The Lich was smoking, and as the trio watched, that smoke turned black as shadow, and engulfed Flame Princess. The smoke spread throught the cavern, blinding everyone's vision. There was a harsh laugh, followed by a high scream, and then silence. Suddenly Finn, PB and Marceline were coughing from the lack of air. When the fog cleared, the cave was in ruins, jake was unconscious, and worst of all, the Lich and Flame Princess were gone.


End file.
